Decontamination and Sterilization Methods

Cleaning is the single most important step in preparing a device for reuse. Effective cleaning must be carried out to achieve proper decontamination/sterilization.

Thorough cleaning and rinsing are vital to reprocessing reusable medical devices. The purpose of cleaning and rinsing is to remove all adherent visible soil and to reduce the number of particulates, microorganisms, and pyrogens. Also, thorough rinsing is important for the removal of any residual cleaning agents from the medical devices.

The recommended cleaning instructions include both manual and automatic washing/disinfection procedures. While manual cleaning is the most universal method of cleaning, automatic washing is preferred.